"That so? I thought they lied dyin"."
"Oh, be still! But what did Mr. Bangs pick out THAT name for--of all names? Can you tell me that?"
Zacheus could not, of course, nor did he attempt it. Instead, he rose and gazed sadly at his companion.
"He said it for a joke, b.u.t.tercups," he observed. "Joke. YOU know, a joke. One of them things that--I tell you what: You look up "joke" in the dictionary and then, after you"ve found out what "tis, I"ll lend you a patent-medicine almanac with one or two of "em in it.... Well, I"ve got to be gettin" under way. So long, Posy."
Possibly Primmie might have inquired further into the reasons which led the Phipps" lodger to select for himself the name of the person who "died lying," but that very afternoon, while on an errand in the village, she heard the news that Nelson Howard had been offered a position as operator at the Trumet wireless station, had accepted and was already there and at work. Every professional gossip in East Wellmouth was talking about it, not only because of its interest as a piece of news, but because of the astonishing fact that no one but those intimately interested had previously known of the offer.
"Why in the world," said Becky Blount, expressing the opinion of what Captain Jethro Hallett would have called her "tribe," "he felt "twas necessary to hide it as if "twas something to be ashamed of, _I_ don"t see. Most folks would have been proud to be offered such a chance.
But that Nelse Howard"s queer, anyhow. Stuck-up, I call him; and Lulie Hallett"s the same way. She nor him won"t have anything to do with common folks in this town. And it"ll be worse NOW."
This was quite untrue, of course, for Lulie and Nelson were extremely friendly with all except the Blounts, Marietta Hoag, and a few more of their kind. The solid, substantial people in the village liked them, just as they liked and respected Martha Phipps. These people took pains to congratulate young Howard and to whisper a hope to Lulie that her father"s unreasonable opposition to the former might be lessened by the news of his advancement.
Primmie, returning home with the sensation, was disappointed to find it no sensation at all. Lulie had told both Miss Phipps and Galusha shortly after Nelson told her. She had told her father also, but he had not expressed gratification. Instead, the interview between them had ended unpleasantly.
"The first thing he did," said Lulie, when telling the story to her confidants at the Phipps" home, "was to ask me how I knew about it. I told him that Nelson told me."
Martha lifted her brows. "My!" she exclaimed. "You did?"
"Yes, I did. I don"t know why exactly. Somehow I felt just then as if I didn"t care."
"And what did he say?"
"He didn"t say as much as I thought he would. He turned and stared at me under those big eyebrows of his, and then he said: "When did you see him?" I said, "Yesterday." "When did you see him before that?" I said, "About a week ago. Nelson and I usually see each other about once a week, father," I told him."
"My!" exclaimed Martha, again. "That was plain enough, to be sure."
"Yes, wasn"t it? I wonder now that I had the courage. He didn"t flare up as I expected he would, as I am sure he would have done last fall, for instance. He just looked and looked at me. Then he said: "Are you really planning to marry that fellow, Lulie?" I thought that as I had gone so far, I might as well go the rest, so I said: "Yes, father, some day.
Not as long as you want me or need me, but some day, if he is willing to wait for me." He just kept on pulling his beard and looking at me.
At last, when he did speak, he asked, "In spite of me and--and your mother?" It made me feel dreadfully wicked; I almost cried, I guess. But I had to go through with it then, so I said: "I don"t want to marry "in spite" of any one, father. You know I don"t. And I shall never leave you--never. But can"t you PLEASE see Nelson as he is and not--and not--"
He interrupted me there; in fact, I doubt if he heard me. "Your mother has warned me against that young fellow," he said. "You know she has, Lulie." "I know you THINK she has, father," I said."
Martha"s hands fell in her lap. Galusha shook his head.
"Dear me!" he observed. "Dear me!"
Lulie nodded. "Yes, I know," she said. "As soon as I said it I thought "Dear me," too. But I don"t believe he heard that, either. He seemed to be thinking and didn"t speak for ever so long. Then he said, "The revelations from above ain"t to be set aside. No, no, they lay a duty on us." Then he stopped again and turned and walked away. The last words he said, as he was going out of the room, were, "Don"t let me ever see that Howard around this house. You hear me?" And that is the way it ended. He hasn"t mentioned the subject since. But, at least," said Lulie, with an attempt at a smile, "he didn"t call Nelson a "swab." I suppose that is some comfort."
Martha and Galusha agreed that it was. The latter said: "It seems to me that you may consider it all quite encouraging, really. It is only the--ah--spirits which stand in the way now."
"Yes, but oh, Mr. Bangs, they always will stand in the way, I"m afraid.
Other things, real things or real people we might change or persuade, but how can you change a--a make-believe spirit that isn"t and never was, except in Marietta Hoag"s ridiculous imagination? Oh, Martha," she added, "you and Mr. Bangs don"t think I"m horrid to speak like this, do you? Of course, if I believed, as father does, that it was really my mother"s spirit speaking, I should--well, I should be.... But what is the use? I CAN"T believe such a thing."
"Of course you can"t, child," said Martha. "I knew your mother and if she was comin" back to this earth she wouldn"t do it through Marietta Hoag"s head. She had too much self-respect for that."
Galusha stroked his chin. "I suppose," he said, "if there were some way in which we might influence that imagination of Miss--ah--Hoag"s, a change might be brought about. It would be difficult to reach the said imagination, however, wouldn"t it? I once found a way to reach a tomb of the XIIIth Dynasty which had been buried for thousands of years under thirty-three feet of rock and sand. I located it by accident--that is, in a way, it was an accident; of course, we had been searching for some time. I happened to strike the earth at a certain point with my camera tripod and it sounded quite hollow. You see, there was a--ah--sort of shaft, as one might say, which came quite close to the surface at that point. It sounded surprisingly hollow, like a--like something quite empty, you know. Yes."
Martha nodded. "If you struck Marietta"s head anywhere," she observed, "it would sound the same way. She"s got about as much brains as a punkin lantern."
"Yes--ah--yes, but I fear we should gain little by doing that. We shouldn"t get at our "spirit" that way. But perhaps we may find a way.
There are obstacles, but there were obstacles above and about that tomb also. Dear me, yes. We must consider, Miss Lulie; we must, so to speak, consider."
His advice to Nelson was similar.
"I should say the situation was a bit more encouraging, Mr. Howard,"
he said. They had been discussing Lulie"s talk with her father. Nelson nodded.
"Perhaps it is, a little bit," he admitted. "It seems barely possible that the old man is not quite as bitter against me as he was. For instance, I met him yesterday at the post office and said "Good-morning, Cap"n Jeth." I always speak to him whenever I meet him, make it a point to, but he never speaks to me. He didn"t speak yesterday, but he did bow. It was more of a bob than a bow and he looked savage enough to bite me; but, at least, he went so far as to show he knew I was on earth.
That was rather funny, too, his doing that. I wonder why he did."
Galusha reflected a moment. Then he said: "I shouldn"t be greatly surprised if your new position at the radio station may be the cause, Captain Hallett is--ah--not unmindful of success in business. Miss Mar--ah--that is, Miss Phipps says he is a very shrewd business man.
My own experience," he added, meditatively, "would lead me to that conclusion, also."
Nelson was surprised.
"Have you had business dealings with the cap"n?" he asked. "I never thought of you as a business man, Mr. Bangs."
Galusha started and seemed embarra.s.sed.
"Oh--ah--ah--I"m not, Mr. Howard," he declared, hastily. "Indeed, no."
"But you spoke of your business experience with Cap"n Jeth; or I thought you did."
The little archaeologist looked very solemn.
"Such experiences as I have had with Captain Hallett," he observed, "have been--ah--most unbusinesslike."
They parted a few minutes later. Said Nelson, gloomily:
"I"m afraid the situation hasn"t changed a whole lot, after all, Mr.
Bangs. Cap"n Jeth may think more of my new job than he did of my old one, but he doesn"t think any better of me as a son-in-law. And he won"t, so long as he believes in that fool spirit stuff."
Galusha stroked his chin. "We must consider those spirits, Mr. Howard,"
he said. "Dear me, yes; we must seriously consider those spirits."
CHAPTER XVI
August is the banner month at all northern seaside resorts. August at East Wellmouth crowded the Restabit Inn to overflowing. On pleasant Sundays the long line of cars flying through the main road of the village on the way to Provincetown met and pa.s.sed the long line returning Bostonward. The sound of motor horns echoed along the lane leading to Gould"s Bluffs. Galusha found it distinctly safer and less nerve-racking to walk on the gra.s.s bordering that lane than in the lane itself, as had hitherto been his custom. The hara.s.sed Zacheus led more visitors than ever up and down the lighthouse stairs, expressing his opinion of those visitors, after their departure, with fluency and freedom. Mr. Bloomer"s philosophy helped him through most annoyances but it broke down under the weight of the summer boarder and his--or--her questions.
Galusha, in his daily walks, kept far afield, avoiding the traveled ways. His old resort, the Baptist cemetery, he seldom visited now, having examined and re-examined all the interesting stones within its borders. He had discovered another ancient burial ground, over on the South Wellmouth road, and occasionally his wanderings took him as far as that. The path to and from this cemetery led over the edge of the bluff and wound down to the beach by the creek and landlocked harbor where his hat--the brown derby--had put to sea that Sunday morning in the previous October. The path skirted the creek for a little way, then crossed on a small bridge and climbed the pine-clad hills on the other side.
Late one afternoon in August, Galusha, returning along this path, met a man coming in the other direction. The man was a stranger to him and obviously not a resident of East Wellmouth. He was a stout, prosperous-looking individual, well-dressed and with a brisk manner.
When Mr. Bangs first saw him he was standing at a point near the foot of the bluff, and gazing intently at the view. Galusha turned the corner above the bridge where the path re-entered the pine grove. When he emerged again the man had walked on to the little rise by the farther edge of the creek. He was standing there, as he had stood at the point where Galusha first noticed him, looking about, up and down the creek, across the little harbor, at the beaches, the sand cliffs, the pines and the sea.